Masayoshi Takanaka closed a sold-out City Pop Waves at Crystal Palace Bowl on August 7th by telling the London crowd, “See you at Wembley next year”. An estimated 15,000 people filled the open parkland of the Bowl for the festival, the UK’s first large-scale outdoor festival dedicated to Japanese music.
Takanaka, who’ll celebrate his 74th birthday in March, teased his 2027 UK return during the encore after bringing out his iconic surfboard guitar. No official date or venue has been announced, but the 12,500-capacity OVO Arena Wembley appears the likeliest setting, fitting both the scale of his current London audience and his own history with the venue. Takanaka last played the same building, then known as Wembley Empire Pool, across two nights supporting Roxy Music with Sadistic Mika Band in 1975. A 2027 date there would be his first appearance at the venue in more than five decades.
City Pop Waves formed part of the inaugural Palace Bowl Presents summer series and expanded the Live Nation headline-show series spotlighting Japanese city-pop artists. The London festival paired Takanaka’s extended headline set with Junko Yagami, Himiko Kikuchi, and a vinyl DJ set from California singer-songwriter and instrumentalist Ginger Root, connecting city pop, jazz fusion, and adjacent Japanese music across a single afternoon and evening.
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Takanaka’s two-hour headline programme ran to 20 songs, with several tracks receiving their first documented performances outside Japan. Among them were ‘SEVEN GOBLINS’ and ‘PLUMED BIRD’, both from his 1981 concept album ‘The Rainbow Goblins’. The album’s eccentric Budokan show, complete with goblin costumes and elaborate visuals, has found a second life online and helped introduce a new generation to his catalogue. A complete recording of the original production is set to release on CD and limited edition 3LP vinyl on September 30th.
The event came after Takanaka had already demonstrated extraordinary demand in London earlier in the year. His original headline booking was upgraded from O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire to O2 Academy Brixton due to demand, before a second Brixton night was added. Both dates sold out within minutes, with combined sales close to 10,000. His initial Brixton shows kicked off the SUPER TAKANAKA WORLD LIVE 2026, his first world tour, which also included sold out shows across the US, Australia, and New Zealand.
Masayoshi Takanaka
RAINBOW GOBLINS STORY Live at Budokan 1981
Release Date: 30/09/2026
Label: Universal Music
Pre-order: 2CD | Limited edition 3LP vinyl
